Friday, February 8, 2013

The $3.85 Estate Sale Day

I went out in the blustery, freezing Robin plagued (more on that in a minute) cold this morning to hit up a couple of estate sales with Lisa. For the most part, the sales were duds. I bought $3.85 worth - and that was at two sales combined! The first sale just didn't really have much - though probably some things that I would have bought back in my younger days before my house started hitting maximum capacity (70's shelf liners......vintage Tupperware....a cardboard cut-out of Billy Ray Cyrus) - but here are the few things that I got.

Glitter

Okay, here's the thing: Due to the Chernobyl fall-out-style cleanup that one has to commit to after using it, I hardly ever use glitter - but I can't stop buying it. Especially when it comes in old packaging with the price written on it. It's just so damned pretty. This bit me in the butt today because I bought it in a sealed grab-bag along with some throw-away items. When I got it home and opened the bag, I realized that they'd thrown the glitter containers in the bag with the tops in the "open" position so basically, I opened a bag of loose glitter on my lap. So now I'm just as fancy as my Mama always told me that I was.

This is another genre that I can't resist - old candy boxes. This one was just too pretty to resist. If they're clean, I like to store things in them or use them to wrap presents in. Sometimes, I'll just throw them under the tree at Christmas to jazz things up. This is the kind of thing that I'll actually fight over at an estate sale. It looks like Dinstuhl's is still in business and their candy looks soooo good!

When I was buying this, the estate sale lady warned me not to eat the chocolate inside. The box was empty so I thought she was joking until she told me that while she and the other workers were preparing the sale, one of her coworkers actually ate one of the chocolates that was inside. Now, mind you that had to be some decades old chocolate. Uggh. That poor lady probably had the runs fit for the record books later in the day. That might also explain some of the cracked-out prices that were on everything at that sale. I still can't get over those prices, even on day two.

Another genre that tugs at my heart strings: Old Office Supplies

And with a cute name like "Tuffy", they had to be mine. You'll also notice the "10 cent" price written right on the box. I have no clue why that appeals to me so much.

Finally: This guy

Small cat complete with vest

He's made of yarn and soon after I got him home, my own cat (who is made out of piss and vinegar and nothing but time) tried to take him down. He now lives behind glass - like 95% of the items in my home.

$3.85 - I think that might have been my least expensive estate sale haul ever! It was a fun morning though. Lisa bought a great metal patio couch and I'm sure that it was comical for others to see us trying to wrestle that thing into her car - first the trunk....then the back seat...then upside down in the backseat....then out the windows....before giving up and driving to get another car to complete the transaction. There is something kind of exciting about the "will it fit?" moment when you drive a sedan and buy an item that may or may not fit! But the even more exciting moment? When you get it home. Holla!

Oh! And the robins!

It's the time of year when a biblical sized flock of robins descends upon Nashville and for several days straight, rattle our house gutters and defecate on our cars. And oh, slam into our windows - so I've had all of the curtains drawn tight for two days now and the cats are going ballistic trying to get at those fat little robins. My photos are desperately suffering from the lack of sunlight in here.

A lot of us drive around town in what for all intents and purposes are "bird poop mobiles" but thankfully, anyone who lives within a mile of a robin's favorite tasty haunt, the hackberry tree understands the deal. You can hardly drive down the road without having to slam on the brakes in fear that you're about to take out a whole mess of them that have decided to sit in the road to enjoy their hackberries and fresh rain puddles. If you go out into the yard, it's some serious Tippi Hedren business, let me tell you. Here is a snapshot of just one tiny part of my yard.

I hope that you all have a great weekend! For those of you in our North-Eastern U.S. who are about to get hit by that insanely huge historic snowstorm, please be safe and report in on the other side. We'll be sending good thoughts your way!

Maureen: I know it's happened for the past few years that we've been in this hackberry tree neighborhood. I'm not sure if it's all over Nashville but I bet it is. It would be interesting to see if it happened when your Dad was here! The people who own car washes LOVE it, let me tell you.

Laura: It's a GREAT phrase, isn't it? I think it sounds like just what it is. : )

oh that little cat! he is so cute! I don't know why my three cats show almost no interest in my knick knacks, but I am thankful. I love old office supplies too. I have more than one cool old box of tacks that I may never use. ALSO, that candy story reminds me of when I bought a box of Little Shop of Horrors bubblegum cards off of ebay. They were from 1986 and this was 2001 when I had them. I took them to school and told the kid sitting next to me in art class not to eat the gum. He thought I was joking, and ate some, and it wasn't pink any more, more like rust and he puked! haha, that poor lady eating the old chocolate!

I remember that glitter. My favorite glitter thing...when I look over at my husband and see a little sparkly action on his face. It's a wee bit "innocent victim" sad, but funny to me all the same. Nice finds for a good price.

You literally have me laughing out loud about the robin plague. Thank God it is temporary! I don't know if they are everywhere but they seem very pleased to be here in Woodbine, gleefully eating hackberries and crapping all over.

And the prices at that sale...they were just nutty. I bought several things but I left a lot more behind because the stuff was at retail antique store prices already.

A couple of years ago, I looked out my kitchen window to see a million robins flying and swooping and diving like lunatics all over my back yard. I had never seen anything like it before, and it's never happened since. I thought it was just a fluke, but I guess they took a wrong turn and thought Fort Worth was Nashville for a few hours. They were literally only here for 2-3 hours and then disappeared as quickly as they had come. It totally freaked me out. I'm glad to find out that their behavior is normal in other parts of the country.

Oh look at all the robins! And here we are up to our armpits in snow in New England.

Love the little yarn kitty. My cat who is also made of piss and vinegar would have dragged him off to her packrat nest in two seconds flat.

Laughing over the story about getting the couch in the car. Years ago when I had the two door neon I spotted a free swivel rocker on the curb. It wouldn't fit in the trunk, and forget about the back seat. I ended up putting it upside down in the front passenger seat. Good thing I was only a few back streets from home. The thing was sitting on the shifting lever and bumping me in the arm while I was trying to drive.

Holla for piss and vinegar here.My cat is always full of it, but in smaller concentrations as he ages.I used to have a punk record with a great song called "Little Sister, Piss and Vinegar"-I totally identified with it!

The Robins thing seems to have a lot to do with berries. There was a park area with lots of cotoneaster bushes when I was a kid-called Robin's Roost. My dad used to drive us there to watch the masses of Robins, who became drunk on the berries and acted very silly.

Berries are gone, and so are birds. But we did have our neigborhood robins in evidence on my lemon tree this morning.

Oh MY God! That box,swoon,but the old candle in the bow...SWOON SWOON! I am insane for all things vintage Xmas candles,that is wonderful

We have that here,but with grackles or what I call crows-on-roids when they come back after their winter break,it's insane. I love winter cos the huge flock of sparrows that lives in the big bushes out front and next door are the only birds here all winter,they get bird seed and suet all season from me

I have that same glitter that I also got from an estate sale! It's been ten years now and I'm still trying to figure out what I can do with it that's worth the mess.

I have a bird problem. Not Robins. Cardinals continually fly into my windows and I can't get them to stop. All year. I think it's mostly the females for some reason. I've tried drawing scary faces and taping it to the windows and I have one of those big plastic owls hanging from the tree that's right in front of their favorite window, but it hasn't made a difference. They crash so hard, I'm afraid they're going to break a window. I've all but given up my naps, they make such a racket. And the cats are ignoring them now.

In addition to the cardinals, I keep getting black birds in the house. I don't know how they're getting in. It's an old farmhouse but it's sided and the eaves are covered. I don't see any holes anywhere. The roof is very high so I'm not sure if maybe there's a door up top that I don't know about. I hear them in the walls and then one will be flying around my attic bedroom or down in the basement and I have to catch it because it's shitting all over the place! I'm a major animal lover but I'm starting to have dreams about my kid's BB gun....

WHY. WHY WOULD THE WOMAN HAVE EATEN THAT CHOCOLATE? Who needs chocolate badly enough that they're willing to eat it from a forty year old box in a none-too-sanitary basement at a sale? OH THE HUMANITY. By the same token, however, I obviously would have saved such a pretty box too, but why didn't the original receiver of said chocolate box have eaten the chocolate inside in a timely fashion, circa 1971? Lesson from both of those questions: Chocolate is perishable, people! That box is a mystery wrapped up in a conundrum wrapped up in a really cool bow. :)

That crazy Robin thing happens every year here too -- they hit our yard on New Year's Day - and cleaned the berries off a holly tree and hung around taking baths until they were all good and full and clean and then SWOOSH! just took off as if it was timed. I just stood there, completely mesmerized, feeling like I was having some sort of religious experience! The real kicker was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings, which I have only seen twice - both times pitiful and dead on my back patio (thanks, Kitty!)

Hi! I'm Eartha Kitsch! Even though I DO enjoy a good salad, this site isn't about that kind of ranch dressing. It's about the restoration, decoration and revival of my vintage ranch home. It's also about things that I consider "dressing" like fun housewares, clothing, recipes and everything else in this old world that makes life interesting and good.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee and love crazy old Western things, kitsch, thrifting, swishy skirts, old photos and stories about people that I don't know (and people that I do know), crafting, absurdity, crafting with absurdity... and a million things more. Won't you join me? Y'all come!

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